Recent News
 |
JOB VACANCY – PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT MANAGER |
|
CAWASA Inc. e-Source Newsletter – August 2016 |
|
CAWASA Inc. e-Source Newsletter January to April 2016 |
|
CAWASA Human Resource Management Summit 2016 |
|
Job Vacancy – Assistant Manager Production & Quality Department |
CBWMP and CDB join forces to prepare region for future drought emergencies
Representatives of Governments and water utilities from across the Caribbean gathered in Saint Lucia in May to exchange experiences, draw lessons and plan for any future drought emergency like that experienced across the region in the first quarter of 2010.
On May 27th and 28th, 2010 the Caribbean Basin Water Management Program (CBWMP), in collaboration with the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), hosted a conference on Drought Management at the Bay Gardens Hotel, Rodney Bay, Gros Islet.
The conference brought together water utility managers, government officials, regional institutions, NGO personnel and other professionals operating in the water sector across the Caribbean.
Several regional organizations also participated, including the CARDI, CaribDA, UWI-CERMES, CIMH and the OECS.
Participants were welcomed by Managing Director of St. Lucia’s Water & Sewage Company (WASCO) Mr John Joseph and the feature address was delivered by the Permanent Secretary in St. Lucia’s Ministry of Public Utilities, Mrs Alison Jean, on the National Drought Management Policy.
Dawn French, Director of St. Lucia’s National Emergency Management Office (NEMO) also addressed the conference on St Lucia Water Crisis Management.
The theme for the two-day meeting was “Drought Management: Issues, Challenges and Lessons for Caribbean Water Utilities.”
Participants discussed various aspects of drought experienced across the region, including indicators, socio-economic and environmental impacts, perception monitoring, public education, lessons learned, management experiences and recommendations.
The individual national experiences of water utilities were also shared by representatives from Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and St Kitts & Nevis.
The conference examined the main factors that contribute to droughts in the region and shared lessons from the impact of the 2010 drought on countries and utilities.
The participants also examined and reviewed policies, plans and arrangements in place to manage droughts across the region. They also assessed the legislative and institutional reform measures required to enhance the capacity of utilities to manage droughts more effectively.
At the end of the two-day conference, participants developed a common action plan for regional water utilities to manage droughts in the future.
CBWMP’s Executive Director, Victor Poyotte, said, “The conference provided an opportunity to review lessons learned from the 2010 drought in order to plan better for the future, because the factors influencing drought have not gone away and water utilities from every country in the Caribbean, need to be more than ready for the next time.”